New school

Centre of Excellence for agricultural education

About the project
Get involved
Library

The NSW Department of Education is committed to delivering new and upgraded schools for communities across NSW including the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education. Co-located at the Western Sydney University Hawkesbury campus, the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education will be used as a statewide resource delivering world-class agricultural and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Short term residential accommodation is also proposed to enable the centre to be accessed by rural, regional and overseas students and teaching professionals.

A new model for state wide agricultural education involves the establishment of Richmond Agricultural College - a Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education in the Hawkesbury and a new agriculture STEM specialty stream and a new academic agriculture STEM selective stream established at Richmond High School. As part of this new model, Hurlstone Agricultural High School will also receive a new farm hub and boarding upgrade.

The benefits

five science labs
ten general learning spaces
five practical activity teaching areas
short-term accommodation facilities
dining hall, conference space and canteen
administrative building
student and staff amenities
covered outdoor Learning Areas
green house
agricultural sheds, plots and facilities
landscaping
general and staff car parking facilities
bicycle storage

Timeline

Planning

Design

In progress

Complete

Progress summary

The construction of the new Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education was affected by the heavy rainfall and flooding experienced in NSW and parts of Western Sydney last year. The rainfall resulted in groundwater being trapped below the land surface of the school site. Investigations found elevated PFAS levels in the water source, making the site unsuitable for facilities required of an agricultural school. PFAS is the acronym for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, a group of over 4000 chemicals which have been used worldwide since the 1950s.

As a result, the community was informed in April 2023 that the school could not be located at the planned site. Work is currently underway on a revised plan.

Next steps

We have come to an agreement with Western Sydney University (WSU) to install demountable buildings for use by students in addition to existing classrooms on the TAFE site. This will include 5 classrooms, 1 staff office, and a toilet block.

The demountable buildings will be installed directly opposite the TAFE site.

Work to install the new demountable buildings will commence early in the new year and should be completed in mid-February. During the first two weeks of 2024 TAFE has agreed to make classrooms available to avoid disruptions to learning.

Project gallery

Video: Fly-through of Centre of Excellence for agricultural education

Subscribe to the School Infrastructure NSW YouTube channel for more videos like this and to keep up to date with the progress of school projects.
Image: Entry plaza
Image: Dining and conference hall
Image: Accommodation
Image: Aboriginal enterprise

Additional information

Fast facts

Commencement

2022

Architect

NBRS

Builder

Richard Crookes Construction

Electorate

Hawkesbury

Address

Vines Drive Richmond NSW 2753

Get involved

We are committed to working together with our school communities to deliver the best possible learning facilities for students.
Opportunities for school communities to get involved in the project will be shared on this page.

Get in contact

Your feedback on this project is important to us. For more information, questions or to make a comment please email us at schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au or complete the contact form.

FAQs
Information packs
Project updates
Reports
Works notifications

Frequently asked questions - February 2020

(PDF 180 KB)